Grades: Spurs vs. Lakers - Apr. 11

[BRs.Ganso]

I think Splitter should be traded... what a waste!

at least he will be rested to olympics, to defend my team!

[jag]

Pop might have been dipping into the Merlot when he wrote the strategy for that game. I think Pop was embarrassed last night, hopefully enough to start Splitter against LA next time. I know stat-wise Blair is terrible but I like his hustle, sadly hustle doesn't make you taller. Blair on Bynum is a formula for a loss, you cannot give up 7 inches and tons of length and expect to win.
Benefit of the doubt: Pop was seeing if he could use Blair on Bynum in the playoffs... i think he got his answer.

It's certainly a possibility but I wouldn't count on it. Pop has shown he is incredibly stubborn when it comes to certain rotations. You can usually count on him to keep "pounding the rock", for better or for worse.

edit: It usually takes something drastic for him to make such an important change to the rotation. (George Hill - Dallas series; Tiago - Memphis series). I don't see a regular season loss carrying much weight in the mind of Pop, although it probably should. It would take a string of embarrassing loses for it to really hit home (like it did on previous occasions), but this Spurs team might be slightly good enough to avoid that. Which might not be such a good thing.

[z0sa]

- TP is the main reason Spurs lost. I am placing the blame on the Spurs "superstar" like it should be. We all saw the Mavs murder the Lakers just last season, yet TP can't hit a single bucket in the first half, and only takes 4 attempts? Please don't tell me JJ Barea has a bigger nutsack than you, Tony.

- Tim Duncan looks absolutely done any time we play the Lakers lately. He needs to get much more physical, 2 inch vertical or not. Accrue some fouls, dude. I understand Pop's gameplan is to never foul but against a size advantage that's your only choice so make em count.

- Danny Green and Stephen Jackson both played decently well but considering the Spurs never strung together anything even resembling a run between the time after the initial minutes of the first quarter until the 4th quarter and blowout party time, I'm not too impressed.

- Spurs needed Neal on this night more than they've ever needed him. Watching Mills jack up shots like he was Neal and brick them over and over yet still get playing time is absolutely disgusting.

- Finally, Splitter playing 15 minutes and not getting ample time next to TD is completely stupid and unforgivable. If Splitter does not get big minutes tonight I will officially move to centerfield concerning Pop. I have almost always supported his questionable decision making, particularly concenring Bonner, but against the biggest and most talented frontcourt in the League you play your most talented and tallest defensive bigs.


One can only hope this type of loss is a blessing in disguise. Maybe it puts TP a little more "up against the wall" so to speak. Maybe Pop plays Splitter more and consistently. Maybe the team overall gets a spark lit under their ass. But overall, this one was really, really ugly. There's not much of a silver lining to be had considering how close the playoffs are and how stupidly stubborn Pop has proven himself to be and ultimately, how exposed the Spurs looked.

[jag]

I've said it before, but I think the only reasonable explanation as to why Pop won't give Splitter more minutes is because he doesn't want him getting injured before the playoffs. There are pros and cons to this, but it's the only thing that really makes sense. Outside of that it's hard to justify Tiago's increasingly limited role.

[z0sa]

I've said it before, but I think the only reasonable explanation as to why Pop won't give Splitter more minutes is because he doesn't want him getting injured before the playoffs. There are pros and cons to this, but it's the only thing that really makes sense. Outside of that it's hard to justify Tiago's increasingly limited role.

IMO you're not supposed to "rest" players in their 20's anyway, lockout season be damned ... this new "resting" phase Pop has entered concerning guys like DeJuan, Neal, Bonner, Splitter, etc feels like a bunch of bull mind games, tbh

[therealtruth]

IMO you're not supposed to "rest" players in their 20's anyway, lockout season be damned ... this new "resting" phase Pop has entered concerning guys like DeJuan, Neal, Bonner, Splitter, etc feels like a bunch of bull mind games, tbh

They've pretty much shown that below around 33 min per game resting is not going to make a difference. At best it will be injury avoidance. But you have to balance that with being conditioned enough to play hard in the playoffs.

[maverick1948]

A 6'5 center is not getting an over the back call on a 7'1 center with long arms.

I guess you missed the other 35 mins of the game when Blair was on the bench.

[DMC]

Manu and especially Parker should be ashamed of themselves.

I can't blame Duncan too much because its playing 1 vs 2 down low.

I don't even know how Parker looks at himself in the mirror after last night. How many games against physical playoff type teams has Parker had everything at the rim stuffed, clanked every jumper, and then depends on flailing and whistles to get his few points?

Also, how many physical teams has manu come out determined to set turnover records?

This is a brief synopsis of the game, tell me if you can see where we went off course:

Spurs shoot, clank off rim, Lakers rebound and dump to Bynum who shoots and misses, tip up, miss, tip up miss, Pau tip up miss, tip up miss, Bynum tip up scores. Spurs shoot, clank off rim, Lakers dump to Bynum, shoots, misses, tip up miss, tip up miss, tip up score. Spurs shoot, clank off rim, MWP scores, Spurs shoot, clank off rim, MWP scores, Spurs shoot, clank off rim, MWP scores. Spurs shoot, clank off rim, MWP scores. TD gets to line, both shots clank off rim, MWP scores...


It wasn't about turnovers.

[DMC]

Pop isn't playing Splitter because Pop has no idea how to develop bigs. That's been the case since day 1. Other than two 1st overall picks, there have been zero "good" bigs on the Spurs roster, zero.

[TheSkeptic]

Pop isn't playing Splitter because Pop has no idea how to develop bigs. That's been the case since day 1. Other than two 1st overall picks, there have been zero "good" bigs on the Spurs roster, zero.

Pop doesn't have to do all that much in this case though.

It looks like Splitter's been learning most of his new moves from Tim and has been following the advice of the FT coach. He's playing in the post more and I think that as long as you mix it up with the pick and roll he's fine playing extended minutes.

All Pop has to do is give him court time to figure it out, experiment, build some chemistry with Tim, and get some proper conditioning.

It's not like Splitter won't suddenly get his minutes bumped up when Pop tries to salvage this year's post-season disaster anyway.

[Obstructed_View]

Pop isn't playing Splitter because Pop has no idea how to develop bigs. That's been the case since day 1. Other than two 1st overall picks, there have been zero "good" bigs on the Spurs roster, zero.

Since he was Euroleague MVP, you dont' have to "develop" him, you simply have to "allow him to play".

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

Fans constantly try to get into Pop's head and look for some possible scenario as to why he does something a certain way. As fans we'll never know the reasons, but by this point we should be pretty good at knowing what the results will be.

In other words: Pop isn't going to play Splitter a lot of minutes now or in the future, unless it's elimination time. And when he does it, it's not because he thinks it's a good idea, even if fans do.

[angelbelow]

Since he was Euroleague MVP, you dont' have to "develop" him, you simply have to "allow him to play".

Yeah, you would think Tiago winning the Euro League mvp is enough to earn him some playing time. Winning the Euro League mvp was good enough for Manu and Tony, why not for Tiago?

[ducks]

will manu every get a f
by timvp
I thought the whole should have gotten one with the day off and pop resting the big three on monday.

I think the spurs thought lakers would roll over without kobe

[ducks]

tp was part of the problem he did not let them outrebound the spurs by 100

[therealtruth]

Pop isn't playing Splitter because Pop has no idea how to develop bigs. That's been the case since day 1. Other than two 1st overall picks, there have been zero "good" bigs on the Spurs roster, zero.

Yeah even Blair has actually regressed. I remember Pop being proud of doing nothing to develop Blair in his rookie season.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Thanks a bunch for this list. Shows just how bad we played last night.